A year ago to the day....

I got the keys to my house. Only 24 more years until the mortgage is paid off!

 

Don't. Don't even joke about it.

I kind of like the really small print you can't read, its better not to know.

First Direct got a 'clear type' award thingy for how it laid out its mortgage papers work. It was so simple. It said:

For every £1 we lend you, you will pay back £2.28

Cheese and bread, 100k loan equals 228k back to the bank, its any wonder the money they make.

Hey ho.

 

Actually before I signed I knew that the pay back amount was very nearly twice the loan amount. But that's how it goes.

If you're near the beginning of your mortgage, paying back an extra £40 a month could take 3-4 years off it!

 

8 years ago I think our mortgage was for £90000ish. Now it's £60000ish. And the house is worth more than £200000. You have to look at the big(ger) picture.

Paul

 

Stop whingeing - at least you guys can afford to get on the property ladder!

 

Have a hunt through the tv listings and search out a program that takes you through the steps needed in order to pay off your mortgage in two years! Now you may have to sell the third car, sell some music and kit, work an extra 5 hours a day as a tranny lapdancer but at least you'll be mortgage free in two years.

 

Simple answer Dom you don't have to live where you live. I would imagine you could find a similair job in the North of the country and then be able to buy a house. If you didn't all tolerate the prices you wouldn't have to pay them

 

Not an option - try getting a good job if you're disabled. Believe you me, it's far harder than for a "normal" bod.

Besides, my sister lives in the North. I've been there. There's a reason her area's cheap.

 

You mean it's not as dirty, rat infested and overpriced as London I don't think you've been to the right bits Dom

 

charmed, I'm sure...! but hey, Sunderland isn't that great a place tho...

 

I live in Exeter; I like visiting London but wouldn't want to live there...

I base North on my visits to Liverpool and Blackpool. I'm sure there's plenty of nice areas there, just like there's plenty of crap parts to Devon, but am not about to give up all my mates for unobtainium.

...unless banks hand out business loans to people who want to become owner/landlords (ie, buying a three bed house and then letting to my two current housemates) - can that be done???

 

I'm sure it can, if you go into your bank they'll probably sort you out, you could either self declare income, or get a buy to let mortgage

 

Not even getting into an analysis regards expenditure on interest vs house value growth.

Simply compared to renting: after 25 years how much would you have spent (bear in mind inflation and other factors vs a mortgage whose payment stay the same or drop)? And at the end of it you'd still be paying. Nevermind the insecurity of renting in old age. I realise the cost is high taken at face value but taken in the round I dont think it's too bad really (unless you have 150K hanging around).

 

Stay as you are mate. 2006 is not a good time to be starting a mortgage. The housing bubble could go any time. I would say there is a bad whiff in the air. The US could be knackered, the Saudis could admit how much oil they have [not], the Iranians etc...

 

I've been saying this for four years and nothing's happened yet! Personally, I feel houses across the board are around £75k too expensive - a dingy flat in Rifford (Riff Raff) Road in Exeter used to go for around £35k in 2000 (yes, the street really IS that dodgy to get the moniker), and they're now coming in around £110k. Even the demolition site that's the house nextdoor to ours went for £120k and needed around half that again in repairs!

That said, I don't want to rent forever. At least I'm saving a deposit (slowly!) now...

 

Dom,
Just follow the example of this little old maths teacher who started in the buy to let world of the middle 90s and is now doing rather well.